Balloon clip stapler device

ABSTRACT

A device for clamping a tubular member such as the neck of a balloon in a clip having locking arms joined by a hinge comprising an open ended channel member for receiving a sequential chain of clips and a base member to which the channel member is secured, the base member being disposed to receive clips sequentially from the channel member and having a stop against which the lowermost clip in the chain is adapted to rest. Formed in the base member between said stop and the lower end of the channel member is a notch defined by cam surfaces leading to a narrow throat communicating with a larger opening. With a clip spanning the notch and resting against the stop, and the clip hinge facing the notch, a tubular member to be clamped is positioned in the interior portion of the hinge and forced downwardly with the clip through the throat of the notch, locking the arms of the clip with the tubular member clamped within the hinge, which may then be removed through the larger opening below the throat of the notch.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices for sealing objects such asballoons, flexible tubing and the like, and more specifically, to astapler for holding and allowing easy application of such devices ontosuch objects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sealing devices of various configurations are presently used to ensure areliable seal on an object, such as a balloon, flexible tubing and thelike. In one form, the device comprises a disc having a centrallylocated bore, which may be attached to the neck of a balloon or to atube to pinch the latter tightly. Locking of discs onto many balloonscan be burdensome and time-consuming, and staplers have been devised, asshown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,720,991 and 3,780,419 to R. L. Allison et al.,that allow for easier application of the discs onto the object beingsealed.

The preferred machine includes a sealing station to which successivediscs, stored in a face-to-face relation on the loadable magazine havingan elongated rod, are delivered automatically by a spring and by afeeding mechanism in the form of a stripper. To seal the balloon, theneck is stretched across the sealing station and placed in the hook of apower-driven needle, which is shifted inwardly to cause the hook to drawthe neck forcibly through the hole in the disc, and thereby double overthe neck and anchor the disc to the neck of the balloon.

The applicants herein have devised a balloon clip of unique design whichis disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,103. It has two arms with coactinglocking means comprising C-shaped flanges which retain and seal anobject within an interior clamping area. Staplers of the type shown inthe Allison et al. patents are not usable with clips of this generalcharacter.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clipstapler device of easy construction for manual use with balloon clips,preferably of the type disclosed in applicants' U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,103.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This and other objects are attained according to the invention byproviding a balloon clip stapling device comprising a narrow channelmember open at one end to receive a chain of clips, each of which hasfirst and second clamping arms connected by an integral hinge, theinterior of which defines a clamping area. The other end of the channelmember is also open and is secured to a base member formed with a stopagainst which the lowermost clip in the chain is adapted to rest.Immediately below the hinge portion of the lowermost clip in the chainwhen at rest against the stop, a notch is formed in the base member. Thesurface of the stop and the adjacent rear wall of the notch are formedas cam surfaces leading to a narrow throat through which a clip ispulled in a clip-closing operation. Below the throat, the notch isenlarged to permit a closed clip to be readily removed from the device.

Sealing of an object such as an inflated balloon, for example, iseffected by holding the neck at spaced apart locations, inserting theheld neck portion into the interior hinge portion of the lowermost clipin the chain and sharply pulling the held neck portion down into thenotch. This separates the clip from the chain, and as it passes throughthe throat of the notch, the clamping arms thereof are locked together,with the balloon neck securely clamped in the interior. The clampedballoon neck can then easily be removed from the device through theenlarged portion of the notch below the throat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be better understood from the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a clip stapling device constructed according tothe invention, loaded with a chain of clips to be stapled;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the clip stapling device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in perspective of one of the clips with whichthe stapling device of FIG. 1 is adapted to be used;

FIG. 4 illustrates how the stapling device of FIG. 1 may be secured to asupport such as a tank of gas; and

FIG. 5 illustrates how the stapling device of FIG. 1 may be secured to asupport such as a table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail one specific embodiment, with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered as an example of the principles of theinvention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodimentillustrated.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the balloon clip staplerdevice comprises a channel member 10 having a bottom 11 and sides 12 and13, having inwardly extending flanges 14 and 15 at the upper endsthereof.

The channel member 10 has open top and bottom ends 16 and 17 and isshaped to accommodate a quantity of clips of the type described inapplicants' U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,103, preferably in the form of a chainin which adjacent clips 18 are secured to one another by fragile links18a, for example. As shown in FIG. 3, the clips 18 are each formed withfirst and second clamping arms 19 and 20 connected by an integral hinge21, the interior of which defines a clamping area. A spacer 22 may besecured to the flanges 14 and 15 to maintain a predetermined spacingbetween the sides 12 and 13 at the open bottom end 17 of the channelmember 10. The spacer 22 also serves to reduce the height of the chambermember 10 so as to restrict rotation of the clips and facilitatebreaking them off in the clip locking operation described below.

The channel member 10 is secured to a base member 23 formed with a stop24 against which the lowermost clip 18 in the chain is adapted to rest.Between the bottom end 17 of the channel member and the stop 24, a notch25 is formed in the base member 23. The surface 26 of the stop 24 andthe opposing surface 27 of the notch are formed as cam surfaces leadingdownwardly to a narrow throat 28 through which a clip is pulled in aclip closing operation. The surface 27 continues along an arcuate pathto the lower end of the cam surface 26 on the stop 24, forming anopening 29 of suitable size and shape to facilitate removal of a clippedobject from the device. A step 30 may be formed adjacent the notch 25 toserve as a stop to retain lowermost clip 18 in position, with preferablythe shorter clamping arm 20 over the notch 25.

The clip stapling device of the invention may conveniently be attachedto a tank of helium of the kind often used to fill and seal inflatableballoons. To this end, a cable loop 31 may be inserted through a hole 32formed in the base member 23. The cable loop 31 should be of sufficientlength that when it is slipped around the base of the pipe at the top ofthe tank, the straight side 33 of the base member 23 rests against theside of the tank, as shown in FIG. 4. Means such as an adjustable strap34 is passed through a slot 35 in the base member 23 and around the tankand fastened tightly enough to keep the device from sliding sideways inuse.

In operation, the device is loaded by introducing a quantity of clips18, preferably in the form of a chain, into the open top end 16 of thechannel member 10. The clips preferably should be inserted with thehinge 21 down and the shorter clamping arm 20 forward. The clips 18 willslide down the channel member 10 and the lowermost one will come to restwith the clamping arm 20 lying over the notch 25 and its outer endengaging the stop 24. Sealing of an inflated balloon, for example, isaccomplished by grasping the neck with two hands at spaced apartlocations, inserting the portion of the neck between the two locationsinto the hinge portion 21 of the clip 18 so that it straddles the basemember, and pulling down on both sides to shear off the clip and forceit through the throat 28. This causes the clamping arms 19 and 20 to bemoved together by the cam surfaces 26 and 27 to the locked position,sealing the balloon, which then can easily be removed through theopening 29. Desirably, the links 18A should be designed to break withgreater force than that required to urge the clamping arms to the lockedpositions in a clip closing operation so that the links are broken andthe clipping arms move to the locked position in one smooth continuousoperation by the user. Further, the links 18A should preferably bedesigned to break more easily upon being bent downwardly than upon beingpulled longitudinally in the direction of the length of the chain ofclips.

The clip stapler of the invention can have attached thereto means suchas an elongated hook, for example, to allow the user to reopen the clip.Also, the device can, of course, be mounted on any flat support such asa table, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. This requires only that onearm 39a of an L-bolt clamp 36 be inserted into a hole 37 in the basemember 23, and that a nut 38 threaded on the other arm 39b be tighteneddown to secure the device to a table 40 or other support. Other ways ofmounting the device will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated herein byreference to a specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood thatsuch embodiment is susceptible to variation and modification withoutdeparting from the inventive concepts disclosed. All such variations andmodifications, therefore, are intended to be included within the spiritand scope of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A device for clamping off a tubular member such as the neckof a balloon with a clip having locking arms joined by a hinge,comprisinga hollow channel member open at the opposite ends thereof andshaped to accommodate a chain of said clips therein, a base membersecured to said channel member at one end thereof, said base memberhaving a surface for receiving clips fed out of said one end of thechannel member and a stop for said clips, and means forming a notch insaid base member surface between said stop and said one end of thechannel member, said notch being shaped to urge the clamping arms of aclip to the locked position when moved therethrough with the hingethereof facing the notch.
 2. A clamping device as in claim 1 in whichthe channel member is inclined with respect to the base member tofacilitate gravity feed of clips contained therein and said notch isdefined by cam surfaces on the base member leading to a narrow throatthrough which a clip is adapted to be moved.
 3. A clamping device as inclaim 2 in which said notch is enlarged below said throat to facilitateremoval of a clamped object therefrom upon completion of a clampingoperation.
 4. A clamping device as in claim 3 in which said base memberis formed with a surface shaped to conform to the surface of a supportsuch as a tank of gas for filling balloons or the like, and means isprovided for securing the device releasably to said support with saidsurfaces in engaged relation.
 5. A clamping device as in claim 4 inwhich said securing means includes a cable for suspending the devicefrom the neck of a tank of gas or the like, and strap means adapted tosecure the base member to the body of the tank.
 6. A clamping device asin claim 3 in which said base member is formed with a surface adapted toconform to the surface of a support and means is provided for mountingsaid base member on the support.
 7. A clamping device as in claim 1together with a chain of clips in said channel member, each of saidclips comprising first and second arms having interior and exteriorsurfaces and coacting locking means on extending ends thereof, saidfirst and second arms being connected by an integral hinge and saidsecond arm locking means being slightly larger than said first armlocking means, andlinking means connecting each of said clips to anadjacent clip so that said exterior surface of said first arm of oneclip is connected to said exterior surface of said second arm of anadjacent clip at the ends of said arms away from said integral hinge. 8.A clamping device as in claim 7 wherein said chain of clips ispositioned in said channel member such that the lowermost clip thereofrests against said stop with the hinge thereof facing the notch, wherebywhen the clip is moved through the notch it is urged into the lockedposition in one smooth continuous motion.
 9. A clamping device as inclaim 7 wherein said channel member includes two sides having flanges towhich is secured a spacer adapted to maintain a predetermined spacingbetween said sides at said bottom end of said member, and to set theheight of said chamber at the lower open end thereof to restrictmovement of the next to the lowermost clip in the chain when thelowermost clip is being moved through the notch.